June 27/04 10:36 am - Canadian Winners at RAAM : Day 7 report and results

Posted by Editoress on 06/27/04

Four-man Team Action Sports Sets New Record in 23rd Annual RAAM

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (June 27, 2004) Ã‹â€ A new RAAM record was set early Sunday morning at 1:17 a.m. when the four-man race between teams Vail Ã‹â€ Go Fast and Action Sports ended with Action Sports clinching the win. Both teams cited difficulties in trying to put the other behind them in what became one of the most closely watched contests in RAAM history.

"It was the elevation that was the problem and we were all just gasping for air," said Action Sports' Sean Nealy. "The first two days were difficult; we're all road racers and had never had to force ourselves to sleep within 20-minute time periods."

The sportsmanship shown toward Action Sports by Vail Ã‹â€ Go Fast concealed any disappointment Vail Ã‹â€ Go Fast felt by the loss in their category but each team member expressed what they needed to do to improve for next year's RAAM.

"We just made a couple mistakes, we were unhealthy and stuff and we just slipped up," said Jim Mortenson of Vail Ã‹â€ Go Fast. "We learned a few things to work on for next year."

The record for the four-man category set in 1995 was 2,905 miles in five days, six hours, and four minutes. Action Sports completed 2,959 miles in five days, eight hours, 17 minutes.

The Human Powered Vehicle team, ALS Lightning, arrived as expected at 12:52 this morning. The team of Bob Fourney, James Kern, Sam Whittingham, and Tim Woudenberg fell short of their goal to break the record set in 1989 by then Team Lightning including current team member, Bob Fourney. For having just crossed the continent in five days, seven hours, 52 minutes and on very little sleep, the team seemed unusually upbeat.

"The look that people gave us when this thing went by them at 70 mph was totally worth it," said Fourney

Men's solo leader, Jure Robic, is expected to cross the finish line on Monday morning, June 28. According to Robic's crew, the best is yet to come for Robic in this year's RAAM as he heads into the hills of West Virginia. Last year Robic showed top form heading into the Appalachian foothills and posted his most impressive ride during the final stretch of the race.

Action Sports, four-man Nat Faulkner: "The pre-race favorites weren't us-we learned a few things the hard way. We started out really hard, didn't get enough sleep and thought we were going to lose it but then we straightened out and got it right." Billy Innes: "I didn't have anything to do this week so I decided to do RAAM." "I'm definitely a one day racer and I knew I was going to have some problems and I had some problems but Kerry has done this before and I told him to tell me what to do, when to sleep, what to eat; his experience was really helpful." "It's definitely a hard man's event." Sean Nealy: "It was the elevation that was the problem and we were all just gasping for air. The first two days were difficult; we're all road racers and had never had to force ourselves to sleep within 20 minutes. Kerry has done this before and taught us how to manage sleeping in short periods of time."  Kerry Ryan: "It's fun to be back. I was asked to do this by Nat and I said, Ã…â€™No way, I have to work,' and then, of course, I knew I had to do this." "These guys train hard and ride hard which meant I had to ride hard." "I like riding at night because nobody can see how slow I really am."

Vail Ã‹â€ Go Fast Zach Bingham: "We like 24-hour mountain bike races, this is like a week of doing those events so we just thought we'd come out and do this." "It's a cool event, fun, hard, long as far as team-relay biking goes."  Mike Janelle: "Adam was my partner and we were on three, four, and five hour rotations when we were battling with the other team. When it got tough we switched to four person rotations of about five miles each but my immune system couldn't keep up and I was just falling apart."  Jim Mortenson: "We just made a couple mistakes, we were unhealthy and stuff and we just slipped up. We learned a few things to work on for next year." "We didn't get a chance to do our best."  Adam Palmer: "We put the "race" back into RAAM." "We learned a few things to do differently. We felt strong just couldn't keep it up. Action Sports made it a good race."

ALS Lightning, four-person Human Powered Vehicle Bob Fourney: "The look that people gave us when this thing went by them at 70 mph was totally worth it."  James Kern: "I've only crossed this country three times by ground, biking across it just reinforced what a special country we have."  Sam Whittingham: "About two days ago it had been three days and I hadn't slept yet. We ride in shifts and when I'd go down for my shift, I would just sit there and think about riding my stupid bike. The hard part isn't so much about riding; it's getting enough rest and sleep." "Basically I'm very, very tired."  Tim Woudenberg: "In West Virginia it was dark and rainy, very slippery and very hazardous; we just decided to go slow. In the middle of the night on a wet, slippery hill you could end it all right there."